19 September 2014

E&O to focus on 4 key growth ares within 3 years

KUALA LUMPUR:Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) will focus on operationalising its four growth engines namely the Klang Valley, Penang, Iskandar Malaysia and Central London in the next two to three years.

Deputy managing director Eric Chan said the company owned a huge landbank in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Iskandar totalling some 728.43 hectares (ha), while in London it is currently undertaking the refurbishment and conversion of Princes House as its debut overseas project.

“Our growth engines have progressed promisingly in the past year and this is evidenced by our launches of The Mews serviced residence in Kuala Lumpur, Andaman Series condominiums in Seri Tanjung Pinang and the first phase of Avira Garden Terraces in Medini, Iskandar,” he told reporters at the company’s annual general meeting on Friday.

“The catalyst for our growth engine will be our 307.56ha Seri Tanjung Pinang Phase 2 project in Penang and augmented by the roll-out of properties at the 54.63ha Elmina West and 83.76ha Avira developments,” Chan said.

He said E&O’s unbilled sales stand at RM95bil to date and it expected to launch propoerties with an estimated RM3bil in gross development value (GDV) in the next 24 months.

The company’s healthy balance sheet with a low net gearing of 0.3 times and cash reserves of close to RM280mil as at March 31, 2014 provides a stable platform for the group’s future growth.

“Backed by our upcoming launches for the next two years, we are on track to achieve our aggregate profit after tax (PAT) target for the 2014-16 financial years,” said Chan.

As part of the group’s longer term business strategy, E&O had committed to a mid-term plan for the 2014-16 financial years to attain cumulative PAT of RM45mil within a three-year timeframe, he said.

In the first term, which spanned the financial year ended March 31, 2014, the group reported a PAT of RM119.97mil.

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